54 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
deluge which the normal channel of the river could not accom¬ 
modate. Uncle Dave was leading the way as the two churned 
along the cattle trail through the underbrush. More than once 
he had gotten his legs fouled with long tufts of moss which 
had lost its grip upon overhanging cypress limbs and had fallen 
into the water. “Another strand of moss,” he remarked to 
himself as he drew his right leg along through the water with 
difficulty, but his friend in the rear had different ideas as to 
what was impeding his progress—he was looking directly 
down upon Uncle Dave’s lower extremity, and what he saw 
caused his hair to stand on end and his eyes to bulge and shine 
like peeled onions, while his lower jaw dropped down to an 
abnormally low position. He had a feeling that his blood had 
been heavily charged with powdered frost. He was speechless, 
and even if he had possessed the power of speech, and had 
thereby caused his companion to come to a standstill by telling 
him of his predicament, it surely would have brought upon 
him fatal consequences. This is an example of what rare pres¬ 
ence of mind one engaging in this pastime should possess if 
they are long to survive the hazards of the game. 
Forming a ring about Uncle Dave’s right leg was a five-foot 
diamond-back. Each time he would “park” his right foot to 
advance the left, the snake would rear his head, mouth wide 
open, and with fangs exposed, make ready to deal him a deadly 
blow. Just at each fatal moment Uncle Dave would, as he 
walked leisurely along, advance the menaced leg, with the 
result that the rattler would be dragged beneath the surface 
of the water. Just how long this situation continued the ob¬ 
server could not say with any degree of certainty—he w T as 
paralyzed with fear. He knew well that if he screamed a 
warning to his pardner that he would stop to survey the situa¬ 
tion and then the worst would happen. Finally, to his relief, 
Uncle Dave chanced to look down to see if he would ever rid 
himself of this troublesome moss. He leaped like a jungle cat, 
thereby extricating himself from the coil of the snake.* 
Anyone being bitten in any rural community by one of these 
reptiles produces somewhat the same effect upon the morale 
of the residents as the raiding of some small village of Africa 
♦See sketch, page 126. 
